Before the Mage Tower, the Paladin Maiden awkwardly rose onto her toes and shifted about aimlessly.
Though paladins had no doctrine forbidding lies, treating others sincerely was something even ordinary people understood.
Although she had initially felt uneasy about hiding the truth from him, Du Pont did not seem particularly bothered. "Oh, so that was how my mentor found me so quickly. You recommended me."
"Mm, my mother doesn't have many apprentices, so I asked around. I figured they had to be better teachers than ordinary mentors." Seeing that Du Pont seemed about to say something, Deva quickly changed the subject. "I heard you ran into some serious trouble in Yarrah? We have nothing to do this afternoon anyway. How about we talk over lunch?"
"...All right."
The blazing midday sun had wilted the roses before the Mage Tower, but it meant little to the young man and woman beneath the garden shade. That simple pavilion was practically better insulated than a half-meter-thick wall.
Deva skillfully turned half a basket of fruit into a lavish fruit platter. As she brewed fruit tea, she listened to Du Pont recount the disturbance in Yarrah.
"So you don't know who ordered the beating either? And your mother also thinks the Council is the real cause behind it?" The paladin felt a headache coming on. These matters were far beyond someone who had only recently graduated.
"I said those Black Markets should be investigated and cracked down on. Isn't this mess happening because the Council lacks money? Wouldn't all the problems be solved if it didn't?"
"Not lacking money? That's definitely an impossible condition." Du Pont shook his head. "Dragons are constantly trying to accumulate wealth, and even for ordinary people, being able to support a mage in the family is something worth celebrating.